murdaugh sr. his grandfather, randolph "buster" murdoch jr. and then alex'sandolph "randy" murdoch iii. >> they were the big fish in the small pond. >> in the area, the murdaughs weren't above the law, they were the law. >> the name still brings respect or even fear to some people. >> bu no one would have imagined how all of that would have come into play when alex's son paul and five of his friends headed out for an evening of fun. >> the plan was to spend the night out on the water. they were going on the murdaugh boat, which was a 17 footer, so pretty crowded for six people. >> these are kids who grew up together. they played together as kids, and they went out on boats all the time. >> paul murdaugh was there with his girlfriend, morgan doughty. anthony cook was there with his girlfriend, mallory beach. and anthony's first cousin, connor cook, was with his girlfriend, miley altman. >> the group makes a couple of stops that night. first, a party on the water where there's drinking, then to a local bar where paul continues to drink before getting back on th

killed by alex murdaugh. >> mr. nd your son. i sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life. and i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. >> all day and every night. >> jurors took less than three hours thursday to convict the disgraced south carolina lawyer. >> i didn't see any true remorse or any compassion or anything. >> how did you know he wasn't crying? >> because i saw his eyes. i was this close to him. >> despite the circumstance substantial evidence against him, murdaugh maintained he was not guilty. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife maggie, and i would never hurt my son paul paul. >> he's a liar and a thief, and he admitted that. he's not a murderer. >> what about the possibility of an appeal and a successful appeal at that? >> we're appealing and we feel good about an appeal. >> what are the grounds for appeal? >> the big one is letting that financial information come in. >> murdaugh's trial

>> you have to think when alex murdaugh testified you saw two different alex murdaugh's. you saw one with the direct examination where he was able to give you the tears and able to give you this not in the crocodile tears and make it seem so genuine great however, once a cross-examination began it was a different story. more importantly just like dave said a different story on friday during the second day of cross-examination you saw different version of alex murdaugh. one thing that the prosecution emphasized this show that alex murdaugh put on for you he's trying to put on a show like that because he's a civil litigator he is a trial attorney and he's investigated and done criminal trials and aside from that at the same performance he gave in order to take millions of dollars from people that he loved, trusted and worked with, this is the alex murdaugh show somebody different faces and he knew how to active play the part. >> go ahead. >> the eggs this morning the juror that got voted out and wanted her eggs before she left. i did not take that lightly. in my experience

>> reporter: yeah, it took them just about three and a half hours or so to find alex murdaugh guilty on all four counts. you try to read the jury as they file back into the courtroom. none of them looked to the right where murdaugh sat and the family sat. they all had their heads down as they walked into the courtroom. also, anderson, you could see alex murdaugh -- we have this presser that is just about to start hear. that would be the, that's the south carolina attorney general, allen wilson, at the podium. he actually questioned one of the last witnesses, anderson, because that was a very important witness. a key witness. he was speaking to how the crime scene, how it all happened. he was a crime scene expert on the re-creation of the crime scene and able to help the jury understand how the defense's theory could not have worked. so we can listen in here. >> i want to thank every one of you for being here tonight. there is a lot of emotion at this courthouse. a year and a half, nearly two years of blood, sweat and tears. a lot of hard work for so many people. if you will just bear

in the background, you hear alex murdaugh speeding, the evidence he was at the scene. the defense contradicted that saying it was not alex murdoch 's voice. let's listen to some of the testimony. >> did you hear -- recognize the voices on their? >> i did. >> did you recognize the voices of your second family? >> i did. >> what voices did you hear? >> paul's, miss maggie, miss taylor. >> how sure are you now? >> positive. 100 percent. that's correct. >> mark amarah, alec murdaugh essentially had to take the witness stand in order to clear this up and change his story and say he had been lying. >> and that one piece of evidence may have been the tipping point for why he had to get on the stand. as joey knows, we all know, it is very difficult to put a criminal defendant on the stand because they can be in the states best witness. turned out to be in this case exactly. that without that video, there may have been a balancing of not putting him on the stand, submitting him to cross-examination. he had to explain this video. this was paused testimony, like you said. it was a

alex murdaugh can be heard talking in the background. >> i was nowhere near paul and maggie when they got shot. >> reporter: despite his denials, prosecutors say murdaugh killed them to distract from his alleged financial schemes that were coming to light. he'd been confronted about missing funds at his law firm and his personal finances were about to be exposed at an upcoming court hearing. >> there were plenty of times where i took money that i shouldn't have taken. >> reporter: murdaugh's defense team has burned back on the alleged motive, and this defense witness told the jury, after analyzing the bullets' triple digit tree, he determined someone much shorter than alex murdaugh, about 6'5", likely was responsible for killing his wife. >> it puts the shooter or whoever fired the weapon, if they were that tall, it put is them in an unrealistic shooting position. >> randi kaye is outside the courthouse. an unrealistic shooting position, he said. the prosecution came back with a very strong counter argument which we showed and a demonstration, actually in the courtroom. what stood out

now he will go to the carleton county jail but then -- alex murdaugh, excuse me. he will be in columbia at a state prison there. >> bill: there was a moment when murdaugh was on the stand and if you recall when the prosecutor asked him a question and then he answered it and then the prosecutor gave a brief pause and murdaugh said oh, what a tangled web we weave. he offered it. he was not asked about it. and that was the statement of the judge just recited back to him. >> dana: he said that phrase really stuck with him, the tangled web and asked him about it. that a notice of alibi had been filed with the court before this trial ever got going. the alibi was he wasn't there. they had a hearing about it and imagine the judge now has to sit there and listen when he says actually i was there. the snapchat video proved that. murdaugh said it was lie upon lies. the other thing the judge said to him is that you were so gregarious. you had a lovely family, to go from that to this and the judge is back in the courtroom. let's listen in. >> speaking freely with the media bec

kennedy: alex murdaugh guilty, there is no way to riggle out.dict's came down less than an hour ago, we're awaiting a press conference. south carolina still setting up microphones. with that number of mics we have people from all over with questions about this case cap capture nation. jonathan serrii is back with more. certainly, interest has grown as trial has progressed. reporter: it has. you know when the defense took that seemed to most as a hail mary pass to put defendant on went stand that is when everyone started to carrying his testimony live, there was not already huge interest in the case, it just skyrocketed after that. we're hearing from representatives of some of the victims his financial victims, including eric bland who respected family of gloria satterfield. the housekeeper who died of injuries after that was reported as a tumble and fall accident. eric said that alex murdaugh will drink from the same cup of justice as every other citizen and other convicted murderer, his power, prestige and money afforded him no special treatmen

you said alex murdaugh is likel to them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal. — them."hat did - them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he - them." you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he say l them." you said alex murdaugh is| likely to appeal, what did he say in court today?— court today? like i said, he 'ust professed fl court today? like i said, he 'ust professed his innocence i court today? like i said, hejust professed his innocence twice, l court today? like i said, he just - professed his innocence twice, those are the only to thank the micro time she spoke. but he did give evidence in the trial in his own defence — though he had to do a 180 on his own story right in the middle of the trial, having said for months ever since the police had been questioning him that he hadn't been democracy and his wife and son for a couple of hours before they were murdered. but this snapchat video emerges during the trial at which you can hear his voice on it, recorded about ten minutes before his wife and son were shot dead. you can clearly h

killed paul murdaugh and alex murdaugh curled -- killed maggie murdaugh with a shotgun with a rifle to see those words come out specifically because i am not sure if anybody believed he truly pulled both triggers. >> he said he had nothing to do with the murderers. >> he appeared in court with a shaved head wearing clothes from his defense attorney son. >> a part of a long legal legacy he will soon learn his fate in a court room where a painting of his great- grandfather hangs. will >> what are they doing to try to save him and help him with all these crimes and what more don't we know about the situation? >> your client was paul murdaugh and now your client is alex murdaugh who is the person of interest in the murder of paul. isn't that conflicting? >> if i thought for one minute that he had a hand in killing maggie and paul then yes i would be conflicted, but i do not think that for a minute. not one minutes. >> everybody needs to know the truth about one bit of everything. i am anxious to find out a lot of truth. >> somebody knows what happened. they need to come forward. bring p

like the 2015 death of a classmate of alex murdaugh's son. rrested. after the murdaugh killings, the state is looking back into that case. that hasn't said why. nor named murdaugh as a suspect. and when the family housekeeper died less than three years later, insurance paid out big settlements. but none of it went to her survivors. instead it lined murdoch's pockets. now he later admitted in the settlement that he owes them four point $3 million. the state is also investigating her death. now you combine that with a boat crash that killed a teenage girl. mallory beach. and that paul was charged in that case before his death. alex murdaugh is facing multiple lawsuits. with cases. well but his attorneys say he is not at fault for his son's alleged drinking and voting. and say someone else was driving. which brings me back to the double murder trial that we now see playing out. 12 jurors and two murders. one burden of proof. and one alex murdaugh. thank you for watching tonight. i am laura coates. alison camerota picks up coverage next. ♪ to guid

that video essentially made alex murdaugh to have to testify to explain why so many witnesses said yeahgh's voice after he denied being at the kennels. i think that was the key testimony. and of course all those lies that the prosecution put forth before that jury really won the case for the prosecution. >> do you think it was the right call to let alex murdaugh testify on his own behalf? >> the defendant always has the constitutional right. you as an attorney can counsel that defendant and saying it is not in your best interests, but if they want to do it, they will do it. but i think that he had to in the sense that he had to confront that video. and if he didn't confront that video, the prosecution could use that strong piece of evidence against him. he had to take that shot. try to explain it away. of course it was about six hours and 20 minutes of cross-examination and i think ultimately the prosecution were able to show him as someone without any credibility, someone who lies habitually, and now the jury rendered the verdict. >> the prosecutor spoke after the verdict. listen to wh

and that as she was moving around, that's when alex murdaugh turned and shot her. she was shot four or five times. paul murdaugh shot twice. ari. >> thank you, ellison barber reporting. for our legal experts, as we go, do you expect life in the sentencing tomorrow, briefly, charles and then katie? >> the earlier point about the exemplary job clifton newman has done, this is not an easy thing to do. he's been over a number of high profile trials. he was also judge the over the walter scott trial some years ago with michael slager in south carolina, and he has continued to show himself as an exemplary jurisprudence. i expect he'll give the defendant life and we'll see that tomorrow. >> katie. >> it's got to be, and the reason why is there's so much that has been stolen from people. and i'm not just talking about the funds that were embezzled and stolen. the lies, the emotionality of having maggie murdaugh, paul murdaugh, a young man, mallory beach, the young woman paul murdaugh was responsible for killing, all these deaths, there has to be accountability and one perso

evidence, but attorney general wilson says that even though there was circumstantial evidence, alex murdaughtand, coupled with that video found on paul's phone with alex's voice putting him at the kennels before the state says paul and maggie were murdered is what he believes got them this guilty verdict. >> this was a circumstantial evidence case, but what people have to understand, circumstantial evidence is just as powerful as direct evidence. as you heard, i think the kennel video hung him and i think when he took the stand and they heard his voice and heard him try to manipulate them -- remember, alex murdaugh is someone who is a master manipulator and liar and he had spent his career being theatrical in front of juries, getting closing rg amounts and great verdicts for his clients. this was his closing argument in his own murder trial and i think the jury saw how he was trying to manipulate them, saw how he was lying, read through it, heard the kennel video and they made the right decision. >> reporter: so let's talk about how this is going to happen here this morning. judge clifton ne

so that was pretty dramatic, and also during that sentencing, that's also when alex murdaugh stood upntained his innocence twice, "i love my wife, i love my wife and my son, i would do nothing to harm them. " you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he say in court today? like i said, hejust professed his innocence twice, but the judge said during his sentencing, "look, yourfamily and your ancestors have prosecuted many people in this state and sent many people to their deaths for much lesser crimes then you've committed," really indicating that if he had the choice, he would've given alex murdaugh a capital sentence for this crime. so that was pretty dramatic, and also during that sentencing, that's also when alex murdaugh stood up and said he maintained his this recorded about ten minutes before maggie and paul shot dead. you can hear murdaugh�*s choice on that. he had to change his story that. he had to change his story that went out very badly the jury. the former uk prime minister boris johnson may have repeatedly misled parliament over social gatherings held at downi

alex murdaugh back in his chair.tor for south carolina now speaking. >> including his friends and family, his partners, his profession but most of all maggie and paul. this is a very complicated situation and i want to offer my condolences to the family that has suffered here. we have tried very hard to be respectful and sensitive regardless of what position any person took because this family has suffered and they've had to suffer in the public eye and i want to offer my condolences to this family. i want to offer it for maggie and paul and mr. randolph, too, who i had the pleasure of working with on one occasion. but the reality remains is that despite all this attention, this case is about maggie murdaugh and paul murdaugh and i'm so thankful that the jurors gave them a voice. you heard about paul. there was the tape but you heard him described as a fun-loving young man, a person who loved life and a person would do anything for his friends or anyone. he is cut down as he was just starting to live his life. you he

that's also when alex murdaugh stood up that's also when alex murdaugh stood up and said he maintainedng i love my wife, i love my wife and my son. i would do nothing to harm them. " you said alex murdaugh is likely to appeal, what did he say in court today? like i said, hejust professed his innocence twice, those are the only to thank the micro time she spoke. but he did give evidence in the trial in his own defence — though he had to do a 180 on his own story right in the middle of the trial, having said for months ever since the police had been questioning him that he hadn't seen his wife and son for a couple of hours before they were murdered. but this snapchat video emerges during the trial at which you can hear his voice on it, recorded about ten minutes before his wife and son were shot dead. you can clearly hear alex murdaugh�*s voice on that, so he had to change his story, and i think that went down very badly with the jury. the former uk prime minister boris johnson may have repeatedly misled parliament over social gatherings held at downing street during covid restrictions.

there is breaking news where the alex murdaugh double murder case has reached an verdict. augh on trial for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son. let's go to catie beck right now outside the courthouse in walterboro, north carolina. catie, what can you tell us? >> lester, this is sort of an exceptional surprise to see a jury come back on a double murder case this quickly. just under three hours, they told the clerk of courts they have reached a verdict that is exceptional because this jury has heard six weeks of testimony in this case, a mountain of evidence, 75 witnesses and other 800 pieces of evidence. they went into that jury room to deliberate. they had a lot to consider. andn this consideration was a massive amount of testimony that they heard. their biggest challenge coming from prosecutors was to decide the credibility of the witnesses they were hearing from, specifically, the credibility of alex murdaugh himself, who rarely and in a risky move took the stand in this case to defend himself. prosecutors reiterating that to the jury today that they had to decid

>> alex murdaugh. i think he was our biggest piece of evidence when he took the stand, i think that was fatal for him ultimately. obviously he had created a web of lies for over a decade that led to this culminating point in this trial. >> so when we have what the prosecution would call the gathering storm, when we take that into consideration with the cell phone data, the fact that it showed alex whereabouts, the gm onstar data also putting him at the house right before at the time -- remember, this was prior to him taking the stand when he was still maintaining his innocence, and he was never there, and then we had that snapchat video where we heard his voice minutes before, i believe it was five minutes before prosecution says they were killed or at least that their phones had locked for the last time. do you agree that that's what it was that finally did it for the jury? >> yes, yes, the videos were damning. video showing he had different clothes. >> daytime snapchat video where alex was at the tre

murdaugh calling 911. >> what is your emergency? >> this is alexthe police immediately. >> reporter: murdaugh claims he went to his mother's house after having dinner with his wife and son at home. he says he returned and found the family dead near the dog kennels on their property. video on that night shows him concerned in a clean white shirt. >> it's bad. it's bad. i checked their pulses. >> reporter: prosecutors say it was all an act. the 2021 shooting came on the heels of a series of other tragic and bizarre incidents with alleged ties to the murdaughs. in 2019, his then 19-year-old son, paul, was charged with drunkenly crashing the family boat, the accident killing 19-year-old mallory beach. paul was supposed to stand trial for her death. the visit to mozell not the first time a jury has toured a crime scene. the jurors in the o.j. simpson trial visited the condo where nicole brown simpson lived. >> it's not uncommon for jurors to leave the courthouse and view the scene of a crime, but it's also not common. for jurors to see the crime scene,

here the call on the field that alex murdaugh is innocent of these charges. that's what the law requires. and that unless and until the state proves his guilt to each one of you individually voting individually, proves his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, then that presumption of innocence stays with him. you aren't being tasked to give your opinion in this trial. you are being tasked to apply the constitution, the bedrock principles that protect us all from a government. bedrock principles are first you get tried by a jury of your peers, second that the jury of your peers begin presuming you innocent and third you will remain innocent until the government, if they can, proves to you individually in your mind that the person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. now, the judge will give you jury instructions on what that means beyond a reasonable doubt. but the definition has been defined that reasonable doubt is doubt that would cause a reasonable person to hesitate when making an important decision in their personal affairs such as to buy a house, get marrie

does that tell you that on june 8th law enforcement had decided it had to be alex murdaugh? it's a fair question for you to ask yourselves. it's a question that's not been fairly answered in this trial. but we know from june 7 to june 8, alex is a suspect, and he's in the circle, and from that day forward, he is at the mercy, he is at the mercy of the ability of s.l.e.d. to exclude him from that circle. they have the ability to do the forensic work. they have the ability to interview witnesses, and they have the ability to gather electronic data. and we believe that we've shown conclusively that s.l.e.d. failed miserably in investigating this case. and had they done a competent job that alex would have been excluded from that circle a year ago, two years ago, but he would have been excluded. what did you hear from the witness stand? you hear from chief barry mccroy. i didn't know chief mccroy until i got involved in this case, but his reputation is outstanding. and he's a consummate professional, and he explained that when he got there he was concerned that cars would be pull

we're continuing to follow this gathering storm that you hear the prosecutor keep stating about alex murdaugh. he says une equivocally killed s wife and son to hide financial crimes. the prosecutor is seeking to go after alex on this comes back to the notion that he did have a motive, he did have a reason and he did have a world that was closing in on him as again, the details of his financial improprieties and embezzling were coming to life and known by his wife and indirectly by his own son and the separate drugs issue, this break will be about 15 minutes or so. i want to get the read from ted williams what he makes of this argument that the prosecutor is making. that this storm got to the point that he did what he did and he outlined the storm. but it dragged on awhile. he's trying to map the storm out for the jury. how do you think it went? >> you know, neil, i think mr. waters has put on a compelling case here by the prosecution here. he has laid out a road map for this jury to be able to follow. you know, you have to ask yourself, when is alex murdaugh lie something when his lips are mo

i would do nothing to harm them. >> you say alex murdaugh because likely to appeal.t did he say? >> he professed his innocence. he had to do a 180 on his own story right in the middle of the trial. having said for months ever since police had been questioning him that he had not seen his wife and son for a couple of hours before they were murdered. this snapchat video emerges during the trial in which you can hear his voice. this is recorded about 10 minutes before his wife maggie and son paul were shot dead. you can clearly hear his voice, and he had to change his story. i think that went down very, very badly with the jury. >> former u.k. prime minister boris johnson may have repeatedly misled parliament over social gatherings during downing street during covid restrictions. evidence strongly suggests that breaches of covid loss inside number 10 -- breaches of covid laws inside number 10 downing street would have been obvious to him. our political correspondent reports. >> did boris johnson know more about lockdown parties in downing street then he told mp's ? for

she has our "sunday focus." >> reporter: alex murdaugh knows this courtroom well.the hands of a jury. >> guilty. >> reporter: guilty of murdering his wife maggie and youngest son paul on the family's sprawling hunting estate. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. >> all day and every night. >> reporter: it was a phone call on the night of june 7, 2021, that changed everything for the legal powerhouse. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> reporter: maggie and paul murdaugh gunned down at the family's dog kennels. after months of speculation and denials, even a botched suicide attempt, alex murdaugh was charged with two counts of murder in july of 2022. he said he wasn't there when it happened in an interview with investigators the night of the murders. >> i pulled up and i could see them. i ran out. i knew it was really bad. my boy, over there, i could see, it was -- >> reporter: but that story fell apart at trial when prosecutors revealed a snapchat video from paul that proved alex was at the murder scene

. >> ainsley: disbarred attorney now convicted killer, alex murdaugh waits his fate.are an hour and a half away from the start of this morning's sentence hearing. >> brian: it took the jury less than three hours of jury deliberations to convict murdaugh. >> griff: live outside of the courthouse, hey charles. >> hey, good morning alex murdaugh expected back in court at 9:30 local time this morning. sentencing after a jury found him guilty of killing both his wife maggie and son paul on the property in 2021. really a tough day for alex on thursday who immediately after the verdict was read and out of the courthouse in handcuffs for the entire world to see. the 54-year-old staring 34 years or life in prison after the jury came back three hours of deliberations with unanimous verdict of guilty on two counts of murder and two counts of possessing a weapon during the condition of a violent crime here this verdict coming after weeks of testimony, including testimony from alex himself who was forced to admit he lied to the police for almost two years about not being at the sc

what it was that he says sealed alex murdaugh's fate. the once prominent south carolina attorney found guilty of murdering his wife and son, tonight sentenced to life and prison by that judge today. tonight, this just in, the new mug shot. releasing the photo of richard alexander murdaugh, what he said to the judge today, and what the judge said back to him. eva pilgrim is just back from the courthouse. tonight her exclusive interview with that juror as alex murdaugh is sent to prison for life. >> reporter: with his hands and feet shackled, alex murdaugh to be sentenced for the grisly murders of his wife and son, but the convicted killer first proclaiming his innocence. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife, maggie, and i would never hurt my son, pawpaw. >> reporter: the judge having none of it. >> that is so unfortunate because you had such a lovely family. >> reporter: saying it was heartbreaking to see the lawyer he knew personally go from grieving husband and father to the man guilty of their murders. >> i know you have to see

as they describe when accountability came to call alex murdaugh made himself a victim again and again. i think people here can relate to that. this is a disgraced law firm to take the name murdaugh out of the firm because to continue to get business this is so damaging. this has been so difficult that they had to sort of relinquish that name. they had every angle cornered. people in this community know that. >> catie beck there. solid work. nbc news legal analyst danny cevallos is with us. when judge newman gave the opportunity to admit guilt on some level he passed. is that perhaps because they still want to keep open the possibility may try to apeople the decision? >> they will try to appeal it. that is the conundrum for all defendants. does it affect the chances on appeal? no surprise that murdaugh continued to maintain his innocence. it was very telling how he is still litigating this case. this is someone that thinks that he can explain the way out of everything. i have to wonder in that moment when the judge said maybe another person that someone like murdaugh a white collar cri

sentencing of alex murdaugh has been deferred until tomorrow. tomorrow. he murdaugh has been deferred until tomorrow. he faces the possibility of life in prison. david willis, thank you for the update. in india, the meeting of 620 foreign ministers has ended without a finaljoint statement due to bitter divisions over russia's war against ukraine. it's the first time the us and russian foreign ministers met in public since the invasion, but their exchange was tense. the us secretary of state antony blinken said the talks were marred by moscow's "unprovoked and unjustified" war. were china to engage in material, lethal, support for russia's aggression, or were to engage in the systematic evasion of sanctions to help russia, that would be a serious problem for our countries. i made clear that there would be consequences for engaging in those actions. so, i'm not going to detail what they would be but, of course, we have sanctions authorities of various kinds — that would certainly be one of the things that we and others would look at. and i say "oth

this was a trial of alex murdaugh.course alex murdaugh will still go to trial for the 99 charges that he's facing in those financial crimes. randi kaye, cnn, walterboro, south carolina. >>> attorney and legal affairs commentator areva martin joins me from los angeles. she's also a civil rights attorney. areva, so good to have you with us. can we start with the sentence? what did you make of the judge addressing murdaugh in a very personal way before sentencing him to life in prison? >> well, i wasn't surprised particularly given the history of alex murdaugh's family in this county. his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather all very prominent prosecutors in this particular town. the judge actually knew his relatives. in fact, he had to take down a photograph of one of alex murdaugh's relatives before the trial began. so this is a family that had great roots and a really oversized reputation in the legal community. so for the judge, he says, look, when a crime is committed, although there are individual victims,

. >> alex murdaugh is innocent. >> reporter: murdaugh's team painting a picture of a botched investigating, and saying murdaugh didn't have time to kill his wife maggie and son paul, and get rid of the evidence. >> he's got 17 minutes. 17 minutes. he would have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear. >> reporter: the defense arguing the truth is simple. that it had to be two shooters with two guns. murdaugh's attorneys flipping the prosecution's script. arguing that while he lied about being at the kennels minutes before the murders, that video captured the conversation of a happy family. >> he's got a bird in his mouth! >> bubba! >> hey, bubba. >> there's nothing on that tape that indicates there's any strife, any conflict, any anger, any planning. >> reporter: the defense mocking the state's theory the disgraced lawyer murdered his wife and son because he was about to be exposed for his financial crimes. >> why, why, why would alex murdaugh, on june 7th, execute his son paul and his wife maggie, who he adored and loved? >> reporter: with his voice cracking, murdaugh's attor

alex murdaugh has been convicted of murdering his own wife and son. the jury finding the disgraced lawyer guilty on all counts. one of the jurors just spoke to "good morning america" said it only took 45 minutes of deliberating for the entire jury to agree he was guilty. >> when you first got in the room you took a vote? >> it was two not guilty and one not sure and nine guilty. >> what was your vote? >> guilty. started deliberating, going through the evidence. and everybody was pretty much talking and about 45 minutes later after all our deliberating we figured it tout. >> inside the jury room. here is what that juror thought about alex murdaugh's tearful testimony when he took the stand. >> i didn't see any true remorse or any compassion or anything. >> even though he cried a lot. >> he never cried. >> he never cried? what could you mean like that? >> all he did was blow snot. >> no tears? >> no tears. >> dianne gallagher, it's remarkable to see after days and weeks of testimony all of a sudden this verdict came down in less than three hours. now le

wife and son because he was about to be exposed for his financial crimes. >> why, why, why would alex murdaugh, on june 7th, execute his son paul and his wife maggie, who he adored and loved? >> reporter: with his voice cracking, murdaugh's attorney asking the jury for a not guilty verdict. >> on behalf of alex, on behalf of buster, on behalf of maggie, and on behalf of my friend paul, i respectfully request that you do not compound a family tragedy with another. >> reporter: but prosecutors getting the last word on alex murdaugh, leaving jurors with this thought -- >> i think he loved maggie. i think he loved paul. but you know who he loved more than that? you know who he loved more than that? he loved alex. >> reporter:. >> he said he loved himgs more than maggie and the son paul. that was the argument in the closing. let's bring in eva pilgrim on this guilty verdict at this hour. and eva, this verdict was reached very quickly. >> reporter: yeah, the jury deliberated, david, for less than three hours. they came back at 6:41 p.m. eastern time, and that pivotal piece of evidence, the kennel vi

learn more at phoenix.edu. >>> right now the jury in the alex murdaugh trial is behind closed doors decidingdy kaye has been tracking the case from the very, very beginning. both sides note their closing arguments around murdaugh's lies with the defense aiming to cast reasonable doubt. tell us what happened inside the courtroom today. >> reporter: wolf, defense attorney jim griffon he delivered the closing arguments and had key moments. certainly he raised some doubt with the jury about time of death. we know the prosecutor said maggie and paul's phone stopped working around 8:49. so that's when they believed they were both deceased. there was no phone activity beyond that time, and so the defense attorney said today you know what that doesn't mean they were dead. maybe they put their phones down. just because your phone is showing no activity doesn't mean your dead. that's what he told the jury. he tried to at least explain away alex murdaugh's lies about not being at the kennel that night around the time of the murders. the defense attorney said it was because of his drug addiction and his

disgraced lawyer alex murdaugh is convicted of murdering his wife and son at a trial in south carolinaeting of g20 foreign ministers in delhi ends in acrimony because of bitter divisions over russia's war against ukraine. every g20 member and virtually every country period continues to bear the cost of russia's war of aggression. a war that president putin could end tomorrow if he chose to do so. the inquiry into the manchester arena bombing finds mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. we'll look ahead to china's national people's congress — the first since xi jinping extended his grip on power. and how the great pyramid of giza continues to reveal extraordinary secrets: scientists discover a mysterious hidden corridor. voice-over: live from | our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello, and welcome to the programme. in the us, thejury in the double murder trial of alex murdaugh has found him guilty of murdering his wife and son. prosecutors had said the lawyer, from a well—known and wealthy family, carried out the kil

sara, i will always remember those eggs our canary in the coleman for alex murdaugh. sara and joey, thanks so much. >> thanks, abby. >>> and the battle for the 2024 gop presidential nomination is center stage at the annual conservative cpac gathering. nikki haley delivering her big speech right now. >>> and ahead, former president trump's speech tomorrow. so will she go after her former boss? >>> plus a high-stakes meeting is coming up very soon over at the white house, president biden and german chancellor olaf scholz will talk about the way forward in ukraine. experience the exhilaration of the performance line at the invitatioion to lexus sales event. doors lead us to new opportunities. your dedicated fidelity advisor... -surprise! -for you, mama. ...can help you open those doors. by proactively reviewing your entire portfolio. with an eye on taxes and risk. doors were meant to be oned. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw

weeks, 70 witnesses and three hours to deliberate for a panel of south carolina jurist to find alex murdaughlty of murdering his wife and son. >> guilty verdict signed by the four lady 3223. >> you can see murdaugh keeping a straight face and escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. his only son buster and the gallery shaking his hand in disbelief while wiping his hand down my face his hand. he is to be two counts of murder and a violent crime. he is facing three years to life in prison for each murder conviction. according to "the washington post," prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the case because "the state would have to prove there is aggravating circumstances which would include murdering a child under 11, murdering a witness or potential witness to a crime." over the course of a six week trial, the disgraced attorney shot and killed maggie and paul back in 2021 at their sprawling south south carolina state. to shift the attention off of his financial ruin and fraud charges. the prosecutors say justice has been served. >> it doesn't matter how much money you have or peopl

the patriarch, alex murdaugh, was once a high-power attorney. >> the influence of the murdaugh familyck generations to even alex a bunch of his great-grandfather and even further than that because of their ties to the prosecutor's office in that community. >> now he is spending his life in prison, convicted of killing his wife maggie and son paul. >> the murdaugh family seems to be surrounded in scandal in every way that you look and turn. >> it was a case that gripped the low country of south carolina starting back in june, 2021, when alex murdaugh called 911. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> this is alex murdaugh, i need the lease and an ambulance immediate we, my wife and child. >> maggie and their son paul were found dead on the murdaugh's property. geico did you ever see any tears in her interactions? >> he did not appear to be crying. he appeared to be upset but i did not see any physical tears. >> the trial spent six weeks murdaugh maintaining his innocence. mnnocod morning, youror. i ul my wife maggie and i would never hurt my son. >> but ultimately found guilty and sentence

alex murdaugh had argued cases in front of this judge before. he talked about the century worth of murdaugh family members who were the law here in these parts. they were the solicitors, the regional prosecutors and how he had that power and how he fooled everybody he talked about people not knowing him, shotgun we he something we heard over and over again. and had talked about the fact that he had seen himself in the media, somebody who initially presented himself as a grieving father whose son had been murdered and could not believe the man who was standing before him today. take a listen to this. >> it's already ended for many who heard you and concluded that it will never end. but within your own soul, you have to deal with ta. and i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. i'm sure. >> reporter: alex murdaugh replied to the judge, every day and every night, he sees them and they visit him. soon after that, he denied killing his wife and his son. we did not

strategic bridges blown up, as russians move closer to bakhmut. >>> also, a judge sentenced alex murdaughwhat happens next after murdaugh's sensational trial and swift conviction in the murders of his wife and son. >>> and conservative activists are meeting tonight where donald trump's grip on the gop is being tested. we're going to look at who is attending cpac, who is not and what that says about the 2024 presidential race. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the

without that dog and that video, it is possible that alex murdaugh would not have been convicted. >> r an appeal in the next ten days. we'll follow that. thanks so much. >>> two of murdaugh's defense attorneys sat down with randi kaye to explain why they decided to have murdaugh take the stand in his own defense. >> the thinking of it at that point in time what is there to lose? they've heard about all of his financial crimes. they really hadn't heard why he committed the financial crimes, and they needed to hear about his drug addiction. by putting him on the stand i think the jury also got to see his emotions about maggie and paul, which are very raw and real. >> joining me to discuss is state lawmaker and attorney who represents about ten victims of murdaugh's alleged financial crimes. good to see you. thank you for joining us. it took the jury just three hours to find him guilty of both murders. the judge sentencing him to life in prison. your reaction? >> honestly, i was surprised the jury came back that fast. i'm not surprised by the verdict. i was thinking we would still be her

alex murdaugh now considered one of them. we are told that he will spend the next 45 days at kirkland during the inmate intake process. the department of corrections says it will run medical tests and assess murdaugh can's mental health and education before determining which state penitentiary it will assign him to the. murdaugh is now serving two life sentences after a jury quickly found him guilty of murdering his wife maggie and their son paul on the family's property in 2021. during incidentsing on friday the judge calmly concern sentencing on friday the judge calmly laced into the attorney describing murdaugh as deceitful from start to finish. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife maggie, and i would never hurt my son papa. >> and it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills. >> reporter: yeah. and so murdaugh's attorneys will file a notice of appeal within the next week and a half saying hair client never had a chance -- their client never

tonight her exclusive interview with that juror as alex murdaugh is sent to prison for life. >> reporter: with his hands and feet shackled, lex murdaugh back in the courtroom to be sentenced for the grisly murders of his wife and son, but the convicted killer first proclaiming his innocence. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife, maggie, and i would never hurt my son, pawpaw. >> reporter: the judge having none of it. >> it's so unfortunate, because you had such a lovely family. >> reporter: saying it was heartbreaking to see the lawyer he knew personally go from grieving husband and father to the man guilty of their murders. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you are attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. i'm sure. >> all day and every night. >> yeah, i'm sure. and they will continue to do so. and -- and reflect on the last time they looked you in the eyes. >> reporter: and given one last chance, alex murdaugh refusing to confess. >> judge, i'll tell you again, i respect this court, but i'm innocent. >> and it might not have be

alex murdaugh was a man who owned this part of south carolina. dynasty, was part of this legal dynasty stretching back over three generations, nearly 90 years, when there have been murdaughs taking key positions in legal offices in that part of the world. he was seen, for many years, as completely untouchable, until it all came crashing down around him, particularly starting with those charges of embezzlement, that gary mentioned in his report there, and the theft of millions of dollars from clients that he had represented, that it was said was used to feed at least in part is devotion to prescription painkiller drugs. thejury decided on prescription painkiller drugs. the jury decided on this guilty verdict quite quickly. then}t verdict quite quickly. they did, and — verdict quite quickly. they did, and the _ verdict quite quickly. they did, and the prosecution l did, and the prosecution throughout this trial didn't present a murder weapon, they didn't present dna evidence directly linking alex murdaugh to the deaths of his wife and 22 son. they

the sentencing for alex murdaugh is friday morning at 9:30 a.m. >> our thanks to eva. rdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison without parole. we'll have much more on "gma" in the morning. >>> turning now to the majestic easter island known for those giant stone statues. this tiny remote paradise 2,000 miles west of the coast of chile is inundated plastic trash floating in aand from around th world. that's not the only threat to the island. here's abc's michael industry han. >> reporter: one of the most isolated inhabited islands on the planet in the middle of the pacific ocean. easter island was formed by the hardened lava of three now-dormant volcanos. ♪ >> reporter: getting to easter island is no easy feat. more than ten hours flying to south america. we're here at the airport heading to lima, then once we get to lima we xach a connecting flight to santiago. this is the beginning of our journey. it's another five-hour flight from chile. with its deep blue waters and palm tree-lined beaches, easter island is the very definition of tropical paradise. >> hi, michael, how

right now prosecutors are making their final case in a courtroom against alex murdaugh. as you know, the former south carolina attorney is accused of killing his wife and son in 2021. cnn's diane gallagher is outside the courthouse in walterboro, south carolina. what has the prosecution been focusing on? >> reporter: jake, we're in a 15-minute break now for the jury to get a break from this intense closing argument from the prosecutor. he began much like he has almost everything during this trial if you've been following along, going way back in time on his timeline talking about alex murdaugh as a privileged man with a habit of stealing and lying, and somebody who would do anything he could to keep that lifestyle up, including kill his own wife and son. but once creighton waters got to speaking about the actual murders, hitting hard on that 8:49 p.m., the last time that either maggie or paul murdaugh used their phones, before they locked forever, and then discussing the minutes they were killed when the state believes they were killed. the fact that alex murdaugh lied a

and in addition to those financial crimes, 99 charges alex murdaugh now faces related to that, there eaths that happened within the murdaugh family orbit. >> alex murdaugh, the privileged son of a powerful south carolina legal dynasty. now a convicted murderer. for killing his wife and son. the spotlight shifting to other possible crimes and mysteries surrounding murdaugh and his family. the former lawyer disbarred last summer, is also under indictment, on charges of serious financial crimes. including fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. during his trial, prosecutors said murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his financial troubles. under cross-examination, murdaugh admitted stealing money and lying about it. >> you were generating millions of dollars in fees, that was not enough for you? would you concede that? >> if by concede that, you mean was i also stealing money that i shouldn't have, yes, sir. >> the murders related to a deadly boat crash involving his son paul. >> that boat wreck is the reason why paul paul and maggie were killed. >> the crash portrayed in a n

but that isn't the end of it for alex murdaugh.ill faces dozens of other for financial crimes, and investigations into other suspicious deaths connected to the family. garry o'donoghue, bbc news. in india, the meeting of g20 foreign ministers has ended without a final joint statement due to bitter divisions over russia's war against ukraine. it's the first time the us and russian foreign ministers met in public since the invasion, but their exchange was tense. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, said the talks were marred by moscow's "unprovoked and unjustified" war, while russian officials said moscow and beijing had agreed to oppose what they called "western blackmail and threats." india's prime minister, narendra modi, called on foreign ministers to put their differences aside and find common ground. it is but natural that your discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day. we all have our positions and our perspectives on how this tension should be dissolved. however, as the leading economies of the wo